Performance of Grid-Integrated

Photovoltaic/Fuel Cell/ Electrolyzer/Battery

Hybrid Power System
Syed Zulqadar Hassan1, Sidra Mumtaz2, Tariq Kamal3, Laiq Khan4
Electrical Engineering Department, COMSATS Institute of IT, Abbottabad, Pakistan
1
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
4
[email protected]

Abstract— Integration of different energy sources and utilizes two or more energy sources, power converters
power converters is required to meet the load demands and/or storage devices. The main purpose of hybrid
adequately under various natural conditions. This power system is to combine multiple energy sources
research work focuses on the hybrid power system
and/or storage devices which are complement of each
combining renewable energy sources, namely, a
other. Thus, higher efficiency can be achieved by taking
photovoltaic (PV) array and a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)
and a hybrid energy storage system, i.e., a battery bank
the advantage of each individual energy source and/or
and hydrogen storage tanks in the proposed architecture. device while overcoming their limitations [3]. Recent
The complete layout is connected to the national grid via development in fuel cell (FC) has opened the path by
power electronics converters to enhance the continuity and utilizing hydrogen as an indispensable energy source for
reliability of power. In the proposed system, the PV is the future energy system. The FC works on the hydrogen
taken as the primary energy source to satisfy the load to generate direct current electricity. Main characteristics
demands. The fuel cell and electrolyzer are added to of FC include modularity, near zero emissions, fuel
ensure long-term energy balance by using the hydrogen
flexibility, high efficiency and low noise levels [4]. The
technology. The battery is utilized as a high energy density
combined use of FC with an electrolyzer, hydrogen
device to keep the DC-bus voltage constant. The dynamic
behaviour of the proposed system is checked under
storage tanks and compressor unit provide a new energy
different solar radiation, temperature and load conditions storage concept. Since, hybridization of FC stacks with
for the simulation of 24 Hrs. The proposed system exhibits PV panels will, therefore, form an alternate energy
excellent performance in terms of grid stability and conversion system where the FC acts as back up during
voltage regulation. All the energy sources and their low PV outputs to satisfy sustained load demands [5].
controllers are designed in Matlab/Simulink There are various different types of FCs, which are
distinguished according to their operating temperature
Index Terms— Hybrid power system, PV system, Fuel cell,
ranges and type of electrolyte. In this study, a SOFC is
Hybrid storage system, Power quality and Stability analysis
selected because, among the various types of FCs, SOFC
I. INTRODUCTION has the maximum efficiency of about 50-65% [6]. But
Depletion of fossil fuel, pollution problems, the main weak point in SOFC is their poor dynamic
continuous increase in population growth and increase in response, gas starvation and load tracking delays [7].
demand about the accessibility of power and modern When a SOFC is subjected to a step increase in load, it
power electronics paved an opportunity for the shows an instant drop off of the voltage in the V-I curve
maximum use of renewable energy sources (RES) such and take several seconds to provide the desired power. In
as solar, wind and fuel cell [1]. However, these RES the meantime, the SOFC may be starved of fuel, which
experience some deficiencies and some fundamental can seriously affect the life time of SOFC [8]. This
problems when utilized as stand-alone energy sources. problem can be addressed by using a high energy density
The output power generated by PV systems is highly device such as a battery. Therefore, the SOFC should
dependent on weather conditions. Natural variations in be utilized under controlled steady-state environment
solar irradiance and temperature causes power while the battery is supplying the demanded power.
fluctuations in a PV system. Apart from this, the power Without the battery bank, the SOFC system must
generated by a PV system is difficult to store for backup provide all the power demand, thus oversize and increase
[2]. the cost of the SOFC power plant.
To address these problems, a PV system can be Many hybrid systems consisting of different RES
combined with certain power sources and/or storage have been suggested in the literature [9-13]. In [9], the
systems using hybrid topologies. A hybrid power system authors simulated a grid-off PV/FC generation system

978-1-4673-6813-1/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

with battery storage. A hybrid power system based on long as a new PV, SOFC or battery systems are added to
FC, diesel engine and electrolyzer is explored in [10]. the existing ones without increasing the circuit
However, in these studies the authors still use the diesel complexity. Furthermore, it is also possible to add
generator as a back-up energy source. The simulation another parallel inverter to expend the said design with
results of a grid dependent hybrid system integrating a high efficiency. The assessment of the performance of
FC, PV and wind for distributed energy applications are the proposed PMSs necessitates the simulation of the
shown in [11]. The designing of PV/FC/wind hybrid integrated system over a period of time. Therefore,
system for proper energy management is presented in steady-state simulation models have been employed for
[12]. The advantages of the FC generation of green each distinct unit [14]. Figure 1 shows a schematic
technology is supported in [13]. The most common layout of the proposed power system.
weakness of the above mentioned studies considers
III. CONTROL OF HYBRID POWER SYSTEM COMPONENTS
constant climatological variables, especially dealing with
the solar temperature while some of the paper design A. Control of PV System
hybrid power system on the basis of virtual generated To take full advantage of PV system, it is always
solar radiation and temperature. operated at the maximum power point (MPP). As the
This paper provides a grid connected hybrid power output power of PV depends upon the atmospheric
system combining PV, FC, electrolyzer and battery condition, therefore, to track the MPP of the PV, a single
while considering solar irradiance levels and temperature boost stage is applied to boost the PV voltage. The
for a typical summer day in Islamabad, the capital of output current and voltage of the PV are used to compute
Pakistan The said combination signifies the most the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) error
suitable option which ensures to maximize the output denoted as “e” in figure 2. The MPPT error is calculated
energy, continuity of power and decrease the variations using an incremental conductance algorithm. The boost
in output power. converter is controlled by proportional integral
This paper is divided as follows. First, an overall differentiator (PID) controllers. The PID controller tries
system description is presented in Section 2. Next, to minimize the MPPT error. The output of PID
Section 3 presents the control of hybrid power system represents the variation in duty cycle.
components. Section 4 describes the power management
for the complete system. Section 5 and 6 presents 0
simulation results and conclusion. Switching
II. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED HYBRID POWER SYSTEM
IPV I I e _+ Signal
e  PV
PV
PID
This section explains the proposed PWM
PV/FC/Electrolyzer/ Battery hybrid power system. The VPV VPV VPV Controller
overall system is made of two buses DC and AC bus.
PV, SOFC, electrolyzer and battery make the structure of Fig 1: Control diagram of PV system
DC bus, and the power sharing occurs between these
components via a proper power management system B. Control of SOFC System
(PMS). The same is true for each bus. Residential load The reference power for SOFC is generated by PMS.
(RL) and utility grid (UG) are the parts of AC bus. The Using this power, the reference voltage is calculated. A
output voltages of PV and SOFC are regulated and PID based controller is used to control the boost
adjusted through two non-isolated DC–DC boost converter of SOFC. The PID controller is working on the
converters while the bidirectional power flow of battery error signal which is a difference of reference voltage
with the rest of the system occur through a buck boost and actual voltage of SOFC. The output of PID
converter. The output of DC bus provides the required represents the variation in duty ratio. The output voltage
power to the grid and grid-integrated load through three generated by boost converter is based on duty cycle
phase inverter even if only one source is available. It is provided by PWM generator. The control diagram of
important to mention that the proposed hybrid power SOFC system is shown in figure 3.
system is flexible and, therefore, easily upgradable as
 DC/AC
BOOST
INVERTER
PV ARRAY CONVERTER DC BUS AC BUS DISTRI BUTION
TRANSFORMER
+ + A UTILITY
PINV PGRID GRID

VDC- BUS
B
PPV
_
_ C

RESIDENTIAL
PLOAD

LOAD
BATTERY A
BANK + B
H2 C
48V
PBATT
H2 TANK PPV
_
PPV-R
PELE CT PSO FC
BUCK-BOOST
O2 H2 PSO FC-R
SOFC CONVERTER PBATT
_ PBATT-R
+
PLOAD
H2 O2
+ PGRID-R PMS
PELECT

Diap hragm
Cathode

Cathode
Anod e

Anod e
PLOAD-R
PGRID
PSOFC PINV
H2O
_ SOCBATT
ELECTROLYZER
BOOST
CONVERTER
Fig 2: Architecture of proposed hybrid power system

Vref control technique creates proper pulses for driving the

Duty controllable switches of the inverter. The inputs to PI
PID Ratio PWM DC/DC Vout _+ Error controllers are the errors measured between the reference
Controller Generator converter
and actual values of the active and the reactive powers.
The PI controllers try to minimize the error. It is required
that the grid current to be controlled in phase with the
Fig 3: Control diagram of SOFC system grid voltage and have unity power factor. To attain such
function, the phase angle of the grid voltage is estimated
C. Control of Battery System through phase locked loop (PLL) which is then used
The battery is connected to the DC bus via DC-DC to synchronize the inverter output voltage to the grid.
buck-boost converter. The buck-operating mode is used
for battery charging while the boost operation is IV. PMS OF PROPOSED HYBRID POWER SYSTEM
employed for battery discharging. The connection of PI id_ref
PINV-R +_
buck-boost converter with DC bus was shown in figure Controller
1. The control diagram of buck-boost converter is shown PINV dq/abc
in figure 4. IR is the reference current calculated as
IR=PBATT-R/VBATT. QINV-R +_
PI
Controller iq_ref ia_ref ib_ref ic_ref
DC/DC Converter Switching
QINV Hysteresis Signal
IR<0 IR
Buck Current
Duty Operation Controller
PID Ratio
PWM Iout _+ Error
Controller Generator ic
ia ib
Boost
IR>0 Operation

Fig 5: Control schematic of grid connected inverter

Fig 4: Control diagram of battery system

A proper PMS is designed to meet load
D. Control of Grid Connected Inverter demands throughout the day and after sunset by using
the PV/FC/ Electrolyzer/Battery hybrid system. The
The overall layout of energy sources is coupled to the
PMS controls the whole energy measurement and
utility grid via a three phase inverter. In inverter
management purposes. Based upon the required
topology, two PI controllers based on hysteresis current
measurement, the PMS generates the commands for the
control strategy are employed to control the active and
power converters attached to the inputs/outputs of the
reactive power as shown in figure 5. The proposed
 components used in the hybrid system. The operating (a) when battery is charging on its maximum power (i.e.,
strategies employed in the PMS are as follows: 30 kW) remaining excess power is still inside the system
(b) the battery is fully charged and then the remaining
The use of power generated by the PV system has the
power exists inside the system. From the above two
priority in meeting load demand over that delivered by
conditions, the firstcondition is incorporated in this mode
the SOFC system or by the battery bank.
while the second condition will be employed in next
 If the power generated by PV system is higher than mode. Hence, in th-
the demand, the excess power will be used to charge
From
the battery bank. Start 1

 If still excess power is available, then it will be sent

to electrolyzer to produce hydrogen for SOFC.
PPV,PGRID,PLOAD,PSOFC,PBATT
 Similarly, if the total power generated by the PV PELE CT,SOCBATT
system is less than the demand, power will be
delivered from the SOFC. If the load demand
PLOAD=PPV
exceeds the power generated by the PV/SOFC Yes
±PBATT +PSOFC-PELE CT
combination, the difference is supplied by the battery ± PGRID
bank. No
For explanation of algorithm shown in figure 6, it is Yes No
better to divide the operation of PMS into several modes. PLOAD>PPV
Mode A: PV disconnected SOFC disconnected Battery Yes
No
discharging (PDSDBD), Mode B: PV disconnected SOCBATT>20% SOCBATT>90%
SOFC connected Battery discharging (PDSCBD), Mode Goto Goto
C: PV connected SOFC disconnected Battery charging 2 3
Yes
No
(PCSDBC), Mode D: PV connected SOFC disconnected
Battery disconnected (PCSDBD).
A. Mode A: PDSDBD PBATT-R=PLOAD-PPV PBATT-R=PLOAD-PPV

In this operating mode, the power generated by PV is

No
zero due to low irradiance or bad weather i.e., PPV < PLOAD>PPV No PLOAD-(PPV
PLOAD. Thus, the need of battery and SOFC is essential. +PBATT +PBATT)<0
Yes Goto Goto
The PMS checks the battery SOC and if sufficient 1 1 Yes
charge is available, PMS controls the buck-boost
PSOFC-R=PLOAD
From

From

converter to deliver its maximum power and applying a If H2 tank

2

-(PPV+PBATT) is Full No
reference PBATT-R = PLOAD - PPV as shown in figure 6.
Yes
Hence all the power demand is provided by the battery
No PGRID-R=PLOAD-
itself. PLOAD>PPV
(PPV+PBATT)
+PBATT+PSOFC
B. Mode B: PDSCBD Goto
Goto
1
This mode is similar to the mode A, but the Yes 1

difference in both modes is the involvement of SOFC PG RID-R =PLO AD -(PP V

PELE CT-R=PLOAD-
which is absent in mode A. Alike mode A, the PV and +PBA TT +PS OF C)
(PPV+PBATT)
battery goes in same fashion. As the power demand is
not satisfied with the battery alone, so, SOFC is acting as Goto Goto
1 1
an active player in this mode. The remaining power
demand reference is given to the boost converter of Fig 6: Flow chart of proposed power management system
SOFC by PMS which is PSOFC-R = PLOAD - PPV - PBATT as
shown in figure 6. is mode, the battery is charging with its maximum
power and remaining power is consumed by the
C. Mode C: PCSDBC
electrolyzer as shown in figure 6.
This mode is applicable when PV is generating
excess power i.e., PPV > PLOAD. So in this mode, there is D. Mode D: PCSDBD
no need of SOFC. The excess power generated by PV In this operating mode, the PV is generating power
system is sent to the battery with reference power PBATT- greater than the load demand. Therefore, the excess
R = PPV - PLOAD as shown in figure 6. The electrolyzer power is sent to battery bank or electrolyzer depending
will consume any excess power present inside the upon the status of the state of charge (SOC) of battery
system. Here, there are two conditions for excess power i.e., SOCBATT < 90% and tank pressure. If the SOC of
the battery reaches its maximum value, the second excess power is consumed by the electrolyzer as shown
condition (discussed in previous mode) is fulfilled. in figure 8(f).
Simulation Results And DiscussionIn this section, first
The second range of interval is selected in which
weather and load data are discussed. Secondly
irradiance level starts increasing gradually (i.e., 6-7 Hrs)
simulation results of various modes are described and
and mode B also lies in this interval. The PV starts
validated.Weather statistics
generating power as shown in figure 9(c). From figure
The weather data used in this HPS are ambient
9(a), the RL is 130 kW whereas PV production is 100
temperature (°C) and solar irradiance (W/m2). The
kW. The remaining power demand of load is satisfied
temperature is collected on hourly basis while solar
from battery, SOFC and grid as shown in figure 9(e), (d)
irradiance is taken at the interval of half an hour. The
and (b). After 6.5 Hrs, the PV generates 150 kW power
weather data used in this paper are of a typical summer
which is greater than load demand. Therefore, the excess
day in Islamabad as shown in figure 7.
power is first sent to a battery for charging and then sent


to electrolyzer as shown in figure 9(e) and (f). This
  
  

 
 

  interval contains a switching of mode A to B to C. Mode



A ends at 6.1 Hrs whereas mode B lies between 6.1-6.5
 Hrs and after that mode C begins.


The third and fourth time slots are selected in such a
 
        way that the PV generates power greater than RL

 

demand. Third and fourth slot contains mode C and
Fig 7: Weather statistics of Islamabad mode D respectively. Figure 10 describes the mode C
which starts from 7-12.5 Hrs. In this interval, RL varies
E. Dynamic Load
from 150-200 kW whereas PV output power varies from
In this paper, HPS is grid connected and standalone. 180-260 kW as shown in figure 10(a) and (c). Thus, PV
The HPS provides power to RL. In Islamabad, fixed is generating sufficient power to meet the load demand
power is determined by inflexible loads like ceiling fan, and excess power is first sent to a battery for charging
air conditions, refrigerators etc. For lighting load, the (30 kW) and remaining excess power is sent to the grid
power consumption is calculated by using averaging. and electrolyzer as explored in figure 10. As there is no
The peak load and average load are calculated as 2.8 kW need of SOFC, because, all the load demand is satisfied
and 2.02 kW per home. The peak load starts from 18 Hrs with PV, so its output power is zero throughout this
and ends at 21 Hrs. interval as depicted in figure 10(f).
F. Simulation Results



  


 
The simulation is carried out under different 


circumstances .viz. irradiance, temperate, peak and off-

 






peak load. The simulation time is divided into various

sections based on the behaviour of different energy 
sources. 
         
The powers of PV, SOFC, battery, electrolyzer, UG
and RL at different intervals are shown in figures 8-13. 


 
 
The first time interval is selected such that when the 









irradiance level is zero i.e., from midnight to 6 Hrs and it

represents the mode A. In the same fashion, others are
selected and described later on. From figure 8(a) the RL
 
varies from 70-140 kW. The reference is represented by          
dotted lines while actual power is shown with solid lines. 
 

 

According to the algorithm, the PV first tries to stratify  


the load, but due to no radiation, PV does not generate







any power as depicted in figure 8(c). After PV, the  

battery delivers its maximum power (30 kW) as
illustrated in figure 8(e) but the battery does not fulfill  
the load demand. Therefore, the remaining power          
demand is shared between SOFC and grid as shown in 
 

figure 8(b) and (d). To keep the system stable, this Fig 8: Matlab Simulink output powers with references for Mode-A
(a) RL (b) UG (c) PV (d) SOFC (e) Battery (f) Electrolyzer
 The fourth time slot starts from 12.5-18 Hrs and it 
   


 
 
contains mode D. This time interval is similar with


 


 
 
previous interval slightly variation in UG output power
and RL demand. Alike previous interval, the PV output  
       
power is greater than load demand and excess power is  


 

 
sent to battery but it is already fully charged so, its


 


 
power is zero as shown in figure 11.  


      
         
 

 


 
 

 

 



 


 
 
  
 
 
       

  
 
  
 


 


 

Fig 10: Matlab Simulink output powers with references for Mode-C
 
(a) RL (b) UG (c) PV (d) SOFC (e) Battery (f) Electrolyzer
 
 

   


 


  

  




 

 






 
 

   
             

 
  


 


Fig 9: Matlab Simulink output powers with references for Mode-B







(a) RL (b) UG (c) PV (d) SOFC (e) Battery (f) Electrolyzer

 

The next interval represents the evening time. The

 
PV output power tends to zero because of the low            
irradiance level as illustrated in figure 12(c). This  



 
interval is again a switching between modes D to B to






A. The mode D lies upto 18.3 Hrs whereas mode B lies



 
between 18.3-18.5 Hrs and after that mode A starts. The
RL is 150 kW, which gives a sense that there is a need  
           
of battery bank. Therefore, the battery is trying to fulfill 
 

the load demand by providing its maximum power (i.e.,
Fig 11: Matlab Simulink output powers with references for Mode-D
30 kW) and the remaining load demand is fulfilled by
(a) RL (b) UG (c) PV (d) SOFC (e) Battery (f) Electrolyzer
SOFC as shown in figure 12(e) and (d). Usually the
peak load starts from evening time, the UG also acts as The final time slot starts from the evening (i.e., 19
a load and taking 30 kW of power from renewables as Hrs) to midnight and contains mode A. This time
shown in figure 12(b). The SOFC is generating some interval contains the peak load of the day, i.e., 210 kW
excess power than it reference which is consumed by and PV is off. In the same fashion during peak load,
the electrolyzer to keep the system stable as shown in rather than taking power from the UG, it’s a better option
figure 12(f). to take power from the battery and SOFC to satisfy load
demand. Hence, figures 13 reveals that the battery is
providing its maximum power and SOFC satisfies the
remaining load demand and excess power is sent to the
UG and an electrolyzer.
 
   


  V. CONCLUSION
 
The PV/SOFC/electrolyzer/battery hybrid Power








  System is designed for a grid-connected residential
applications with proper power flow controllers. The
  deficiency of a single power source is overcome by
       
proposing a hybrid power system which is able to

  


 supply almost continuous power flow with better
 
reliability. A complete simulation model has been








 established which facilitates modeling and analyzing
any PV/SOFC/ electrolyzer/battery hybrid power
  system with various power levels and limits. The
       
dynamic behaviour of the proposed system is checked



 


 under real-world record of solar radiation, temperature
 


and load conditions. The developed system shows







  excellent performance in terms of grid stability, voltage

regulation and power quality which has been verified by
  the simulations done in Matlab/Simulink.
       

 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Fig 12: Matlab Simulink output powers with references for switching Thanks to COMSATS Institute of IT, Abbottabad,
of modes (a) RL (b) UG (c) PV (d) SOFC (e) Battery (f) Electrolyzer
Pakistan for facilitating us in the completion of this

   


 
 research work.

 


 






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